Why does Paysavo look up my recipient's bank details when I enter them?
When you enter a recipient's bank details, Paysavo looks them up to make sure they're valid before you send — for some payment rails this confirms the account holder's name at the bank, but for others (like a US routing number) it only confirms the bank itself, not who the account belongs to.
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Direct answer
When you enter a recipient's bank account details for a transfer, Paysavo checks them against the relevant banking network before you send. What that check actually confirms back to you depends on the payment rail: for some destinations, it confirms the account holder's name at the bank so you can check it matches who you intend to pay; for others, it only confirms that the bank/routing details are valid, without confirming the account holder's name.
How it works
- Some rails return the account holder's name. For at least one supported rail, the lookup returns the destination account holder's name as recorded at their bank, which Paysavo can show you to help confirm you have the right recipient before sending.
- Other rails only validate the bank, not the person. For a US routing-number lookup, for example, the check only confirms which bank the routing number belongs to — it does not return or confirm the account holder's name.
- Either way, this check happens before you finalize your transfer, so you can catch obviously wrong bank details early — but for rails that don't return a holder name, it can't catch a right-bank-wrong-person mistake, so it's still worth double-checking the recipient's details yourself.
What to do next
- Always double-check the recipient's account details yourself before sending, especially for a new recipient — don't rely solely on this lookup to confirm identity, since it doesn't do that for every rail.
- If the lookup shows an account holder name, compare it to who you actually intend to pay before continuing.
Still need help? Contact Paysavo support.